Once upon a time, YouTube was a free-for-all. Not only were copyrights infringed willy-nilly, there was no revenue model.

Boy have times changed.

Rightsholders realize it’s better to get paid on unauthorized videos and money comes in from…ads.

I hate ‘em. Everybody does. Talk to Greg Sandoval, who left CNET after being squeezed by its owner CBS, pissed he gave an award to Dish and its Hopper. Which allows you to skip commercials. On TV, the antiquated medium, commercials are dying. On YouTube, the latest and the greatest, the ads have become so prevalent that we now know who’s selling.

Yup, that’s a big change. For a long while, you just sat there for a few seconds and clicked off the commercial. But now sometimes you have to wait fifteen seconds to click away, and suddenly, I’m aware of Zoosk.

Chances are you are too. If you watch any YouTube. And not a day goes by when I don’t. Even though weeks can pass and I don’t even turn on my television. People e-mail links to clips, I want to check out new music, and suddenly, I’m aware of Liz and Brad and this animatronic heart that looks like an M&M.

Yup, Zoosk is spamming YouTube. It’s little different from e-mail spam. But this time, you’ve got to pay attention.

People think it’s about buying views. That’s passe. Because now everybody knows they’re false. Yup… Your clip that no one has seen, people are still not gonna see it, despite you paying for tons of views. But these pre-roll commercials, we can’t turn them off.

And maybe artists will start advertising soon. But what is fascinating is how the big boys, Madison Avenue, are completely clueless. They’re still overpaying for network commercials, even though the ratings are sinking, convinced that this is the best way to reach the most people. But many viral clips reach more people than network TV shows. And there are no distractions. And there’s no skipping, at least not the first five to fifteen seconds, which is enough to make an impression.

The new days are here. The switch from TV to online advertising is in swing. Advertisers now have a new medium to assault captive viewers. And I hate it. Can I just pay to get rid of the ads?

P.S. If for some reason you’re under a rock, and you’re not yet aware of Zoosk, check out the extended ad here:

P.P.S. Vevo abuses the advertising paradigm. Because the ads are too long. The ability to click to end each ad on YouTube gives the impression that the viewer is in control. Vevo just pisses people off.